By NEAL WAGNER / Managing Editor

ALABASTER – A longtime volunteer and familiar face in the city’s schools will serve on the city’s Board of Education for the next several years after she was appointed to the board by the City Council during an April 23 meeting.

Council members voted unanimously during the meeting to appoint Jamia Alexander-Williams to a five-year term on the School Board beginning in June. Alexander-Williams will fill the BOE seat currently occupied by Ty Quarles.

“I’m so humbled and so excited. This is a dream come true, and I’m ready to serve the kids, because it’s all about them,” Alexander-Williams said during an interview after the council meeting. “I view this as a continuation of what I’ve already been doing.”

Alexander-Williams is a systems engineer with Wachovia Bank/Wells Fargo, and holds a bachelor’s degree from Alabama A&M University and a master’s degree from Strayer University.

She is the president of the Angel Warriors Foundation, president of the TMS PTO board, the president of the Alabaster Sports and Entertainment Foundation, the vice president of the THS PTO board and a member of the ACS Foundation board. She said she will work to help ACS increase its test scores, continue to hire highly qualified teachers and prepare students for life after high school.

Alexander-Williams was one of eight finalists the City Council interviewed for the Place 2 BOE seat in late March.

During the April 23 council meeting, Councilwoman Kerri Pate nominated Jamia-Williams and Councilwoman Sophie Martin seconded the nomination before the council voted to approve the appointment. Alexander-Williams was the only person nominated for the appointment.

“We probably had the best group of applicants we’ve ever had this time,” said Councilman Russell Bedsole. “The fact that you were chosen says a lot about you and your commitment to our community.”

Council members praised Alexander-Williams for the work she has done in the city and in the city’s schools over the past several years.

“You are going to do a phenomenal job,” Martin said. “You are so passionate and you always want to do what is best for the children in our city.”

“I know you are going to do what is best for the people who really matter: our students,” Council President Scott Brakefield added.